Rejection for DDI article isn't so bad

vagabundo · Dec 23, 2011

the Jester said:
Banesworn. Specifically, epic level support in the form of armies/swarms that the pcs can mow through. There's nothing like one man facing a small army if you want to feel epic.

That's funny. I was just thinking about something similar yesterday. Paragon+ characters vs armies of mooks. Clouds of arrows as a Hazard, swarms of soldiers. House rules for multiple attacks against groups more than 5 levels lower than yourself, similar to the old 1e/2e rule for high level characters. I think it's something missing from the game. It could probably be done as an adventure though. A paragon siege maybe.

I'm A Banana · Dec 24, 2011

Quickleaf said:
I also received a reply from Stan! that my ideas were good but my presentation was lackluster. Did you get similar input?

The response I got indicated that they didn't really understand the pitch I threw. The reason they gave for rejection was that the article seemed to be pitching too much, though my intent was to only pitch the above article. I think I went on a bit too long about all the OTHER possibilities I could do, in an effort to be flexible, whereas a more specific pitch might have gotten my intention across more clearly.

vagabundo · Jan 1, 2012

I got my rejection last night (well daytime in the US I suppose) while I was falling asleep drunk on the sofa. Some very useful feedback (thanks Chris). I think I'll have to do more research on previous articles published on DDI and more time polishing the submission (damn you typos).

Has anyone heard of the WotC code of ethics? My big bad guy violated them :/ I checked on the website but could find anything.

EDIT Happy new year folks...

Incenjucar · Jan 1, 2012

vagabundo said:
Has anyone heard of the WotC code of ethics? My big bad guy violated them :/ I checked on the website but could find anything.

First I've heard of it, but there will be limits to what WotC is willing to produce. They're not going to release anything too vile or too dark.

vagabundo · Jan 1, 2012

Incenjucar said:
First I've heard of it, but there will be limits to what WotC is willing to produce. They're not going to release anything too vile or too dark.

I didn't think it was too vile, but he is a villain. it involved a threat to a child that he had kidnapped, one that the PCs would hopefully save. It was a minor point I think, as it could have been changed to an adult easily enough, and not the main reason for the rejection anyway.

The code might be internal. I'll probably just have to just keep it in mind when plotting out stuff if I submit again. Be careful with any references to drugs, sex, etc.. This is a family show!!

Incenjucar · Jan 1, 2012

It's fairly common for games to ban references to violence against children. In most video games, children are immune to harm, if they appear at all.

KarinsDad · Jan 1, 2012

In Leader of the Pack, two gnoll gorgers try to get through a door and kill an 8 year old boy. In our game, the PCs didn't get there in time and the gnolls were successful. I was actually surprised in our video game and movie culture that a few of the players were taken back by such violence and just plain evilness. The players in question have small children of their own which explains their reactions. But it's interesting that even though blood and guts are everywhere in our culture, there are still some things that (rightfully) bother people. It did make me realize that there are probably some areas that my game should never go into. An entire village wiped out is probably ok since most of it will be faceless and nameless and offstage, but a single child with parents in the same house, not so well received.

And evidently, it's not a hard and fast rule at WotC since they've already published a module with it.

AbdulAlhazred · Jan 1, 2012

KarinsDad said:
In Leader of the Pack, two gnoll gorgers try to get through a door and kill an 8 year old boy. In our game, the PCs didn't get there in time and the gnolls were successful. I was actually surprised in our video game and movie culture that a few of the players were taken back by such violence and just plain evilness. The players in question have small children of their own which explains their reactions. But it's interesting that even though blood and guts are everywhere in our culture, there are still some things that (rightfully) bother people. It did make me realize that there are probably some areas that my game should never go into. An entire village wiped out is probably ok since most of it will be faceless and nameless and offstage, but a single child with parents in the same house, not so well received.

And evidently, it's not a hard and fast rule at WotC since they've already published a module with it.

Yeah, I remember reading that adventure and thinking it was a little unusual for an adventure to contain such an explicit situation of monsters killing children on stage so to speak. Clearly the setup was designed to give the PCs a chance to make a big rescue and show the vileness of the bad guy's minions, but obviously there had to be a chance of failure...

I think the same adventure has another scenario with children that might potentially be killed (the people hiding under the gallows). It was a somewhat dark adventures, though you could definitely run it in a more light-hearted mode. I also seem to recall it struck me as a virtually unwinnable one too without heavily optimized PCs and some really sharp play.

KarinsDad · Jan 1, 2012

AbdulAlhazred said:
I think the same adventure has another scenario with children that might potentially be killed (the people hiding under the gallows). It was a somewhat dark adventures, though you could definitely run it in a more light-hearted mode. I also seem to recall it struck me as a virtually unwinnable one too without heavily optimized PCs and some really sharp play.

I totally missed Lycanthrope Fury on the first few encounters, but then again, my PCs were only level 3, not 4 to 6. So, it worked out. I did have to cut out a few foes in the last encounter though (because I did reintroduce Lycanthrope Fury). I think that if they had been level 4 though with the extra hit points, feat, and bonuses to hit and defenses, they would have still won, but it would have still been tough. They did have to pull out a lot of stops in the second to last encounter.

This was definitely a module that seemed like it got past the editors in quite a few ways though. Not unwinnable, but definitely more challenging than some groups could handle, at least in the last two encounters.

AbdulAlhazred · Jan 1, 2012

Yeah, it was certainly winnable, though I don't think either of the groups I've run for recently would have much of a chance of beating the adventure. It seemed like a group starting at say level 5 would have a REALLY rough time of it, at best. Certainly seemed like the toughest adventure I've seen in Dungeon for 4th so far. I guess some of the stuff in SoW was pretty hard too from what I've heard, never really read through much of it.

In any case, if I were submitting an adventure I'd think steering clear of outright nastiness like murdering children would be advisable. Most adult groups would probably be fine with it as presented in Leader of the Pack, but WotC certainly has to consider their whole audience. Probably best left to other venues.

Rejection for DDI article isn't so bad

vagabundo

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I'm A Banana

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vagabundo

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Incenjucar

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vagabundo

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KarinsDad

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AbdulAlhazred

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